Dell netbook to sell for $599

COMPUTER maker Dell has jumped into the burgeoning netbook market, launching its own version of the cheap and cheerful notebook class that Asus kick started last year with its Eee PC.
Dell’s new Inspiron Mini 9 goes on sale locally today for $599 and the company is pitching the machine at “teens, tweens, travellers and Tweeters”.Dell’s netbook sports similar specifications to the competition, which includes the Eee PC, Acer Aspire One and the HP 2133. The Mini 9 has a small 8.9 inch, 1024×600 pixel screen, weighs one kilogram and uses a shock proof, 16GB solid state drive. It has three USB ports, an SD card reader, headphone and mic sockets, ethernet and a VGA out port.

The processor is a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom and comes with one gigabyte of system memory.

While there’s WiFi and Bluetooth networking, the only sign of the rumoured 3G SIM slot, which would have distinguished the Dell from other netbooks, is a blank hole for such a slot under the battery.

The machine ships with a free 2GB plan on the Box.net online file storage and collaboration site and comes in black only.

Dell said it would ship Australian orders for the Mini 9 from September 10.

Buy the latest Dell Computer offers: www.computer-deals.com.au